Egg Foo Yong with Sauce

April and still inside. I have developed what I think of as a quarantine pantry philosophy: always have dried beans, always have canned tomatoes, always have onions and garlic and a grain of some kind. With those five things you can make dinner indefinitely. I have also developed a quarantine cooking hierarchy, which goes: what sounds good, what is actually in the apartment, what can I make in under forty minutes because I am too tired for anything else. That third tier is doing a lot of work lately.

I made shakshuka twice this week. Eggs poached in spiced tomato sauce — cumin, paprika, a can of diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, a handful of feta if I have it. Ready in twenty minutes. The kind of meal that sounds exotic and is made entirely of pantry staples. I wrote up a version for the blog with a note that you can adjust the spice to whatever your household can handle, and I got more responses than almost anything I have posted. Turns out the whole country is learning to cook from their pantries right now.

Patty called Tuesday with a funny story about accidentally ordering twelve pounds of flour from the grocery delivery service instead of one. Steve had apparently ordered online for the first time in his life to avoid going out, misread the interface, and now they have enough flour to last approximately three years. Babcia Rose is apparently delighted. She has been making bread every day. Steve is threatening to convert the garage into a bakery.

Ryan and I have found our lockdown groove. He works his shifts, comes home, showers, and then we cook dinner together on his off days. This week we made homemade pizza from scratch — me doing the dough and sauce, him doing the assembly with whatever toppings we had (pepperoni from the back of the freezer, half a green pepper, a lot of cheese). It was perfect. It took two hours. I do not think either of us has ever spent two hours making pizza before. Time is different now.

Shakshuka got all the attention this week, and it deserved it—but it also got me thinking about the whole category of meals it belongs to: eggs, a sauce, not much else, done in under thirty minutes. Egg Foo Yong scratches exactly that same itch. It’s the kind of dish that sounds like more than it is, uses what’s already in the kitchen, and lands on the table before the tired-to-cook feeling wins. Right now, that tier of cooking is doing a lot of work for us, and this one earns its place in the rotation.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

For the patties:
6 large eggs
1 cup bean sprouts
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup cooked shrimp or diced cooked chicken (optional)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
For the sauce:
1 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water

Instructions

Mix the batter. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until well beaten. Stir in the bean sprouts, cabbage, green onions, protein if using, soy sauce, garlic powder, and ginger until evenly combined.
Make the sauce. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine broth, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch with cold water until smooth, then stir into the saucepan. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens and becomes glossy, about 3–4 minutes. Reduce heat to low to keep warm.
Cook the patties. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Pour roughly 1/3 cup of the egg mixture per patty into the pan—you should fit 2–3 at a time without crowding. Cook until the edges are set and the bottom is golden, about 2–3 minutes. Flip carefully and cook another 1–2 minutes until cooked through. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining oil and batter.
Serve. Arrange patties over steamed white rice or on their own. Spoon warm sauce generously over the top and garnish with additional sliced green onions if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Egg Foo Yong with Sauce — When the Pantry Decides Dinner